Colorado Avalanche vs. St. Louis Blues Game 4 Prediction, Playoff Odds
The Colorado Avalanche could sweep St. Louis out of the West Division playoffs on Sunday and they are favoured to do so on the NHL odds. The total is set at 5.5 goals.
Avalanche vs. Blues Stanley Cup Odds
This writer’s original Stanley Cup pick was Colorado vs. Toronto. Feeling pretty good about the Avalanche but not the Maple Leafs with the injury to John Tavares. That’s a story for another day.
Colorado is up 3-0 on St. Louis, and on the puckline for Game 4, the Avs are +117 at -1.5 goals and the Blues -140 at +1.5. The over 5.5 goals is a slight favourite. On the regulation time moneyline, Colorado is -116 with St. Louis at +234 and a draw at +330. For new NHL bettors, yes you can wager simply on how a game ends after three periods without worrying about overtime.
The Avs have now jumped to +218 clear-cut favourites to win the Cup – Toronto had been the leader entering the post-season. St. Louis is a +16400 long shot. Just four teams in league history have rallied to win a series after trailing 3-0. The last team was Los Angeles over San Jose in the first round of the 2014 Western Conference playoffs. The Kings went on to win the Cup.
The over is 4-1-1 in the past six between these teams in St. Louis. The Avs have won eight of the past 10 overall.
Colorado Avalanche
Colorado can become the first team to punch their ticket to the second round on Sunday (Boston could as well in a later game) thanks to a 5-1 win in St. Louis on Friday – all three Avalanche wins in this series have been by multiple goals. Nathan MacKinnon is the Avs’ star, but 26-year-old defenceman and Nova Scotia native Ryan Graves had arguably the game of his career Friday with a goal and two assists to be named the No. 1 star.
Alex Newhook scored his first NHL goal in the win, and Tyson Jost, Brandon Saad and J.T. Compher also found the back of the net for the Avalanche. Newhook (from St. John’s, Newfoundland), a 2019 first-round draft pick, only made his NHL debut on May 5. He became the third player in franchise history to score his first career NHL goal in the playoffs. Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves. After being indefinitely suspended for a “high, forceful check” to the head of Blues’ defenceman Justin Faulk in Game 2 on Wednesday, word came through during Friday’s Game 3 that Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri will receive an eight-game suspension. This is the sixth suspension of Kadri’s career and third in the playoffs. Colorado has won their past four road games.
St. Louis Blues
St. Louis played again in Game 3 without regular-season leading scorer David Perron due to COVID protocols, and it would be an upset if he takes the ice Sunday. For obvious reasons, teams don’t share all the details. Tyler Bozak had the lone goal in Friday’s loss and it came short-handed. The Blues did outshoot the Avalanche 32-26 and out-hit them 46-20, but St. Louis simply isn’t as talented. Jordan Binnington has been in net for all three losses in this series, and this is just my speculation but perhaps coach Craig Berube (the former enforcer for the Flyers, Leafs, Caps, Islanders and Flames), could go with backup Ville Husso in Game 4. At this point, anything is worth a shot. The Blues are 6-2 in their past eight as home dogs.
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